NATHAN FLETCHER’S SPIN: EXPEDIENCE = IDEALISM

In the past 14 months, Fletcher has gone from being an ardent Republican to a harsh critic of both parties to a proud Democrat.

What is Nathan Fletcher?

That we do know: an opportunist

The U-T Editorial Board has no issue with people changing party affiliations, if that is where their heart takes them, including changing to becoming a Democrat. In the past month, this page has endorsed two Democrats – one of them the most powerful labor leader in the county – in races where we could have stayed neutral.

But anyone who thinks Fletcher is just going where his heart is taking him is naive. Here’s a politician trying to revive his career by selling shameless expedience as idealism — as a principled “journey” in which he keeps evolving into a better and better person. And he thinks we won’t notice that this evolution somehow always leaves him in a more politically advantageous position.

Fletcher’s history matters. In late March 2012, just 18 days after promoting his unwavering conservatism to secure the local Republican Party’s endorsement for mayor and being denied in favor of a socially moderate, openly gay, fiscal conservative, Carl DeMaio, Fletcher quit the party to become an independent.

This prompted this observation from Jess Durfee, chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party: “Voters will recognize that he’s just another leopard trying to change his spots in an election year. Frankly, this is one of the most cynical political ploys we’ve seen in San Diego in decades.”

Now, 14 months later, Fletcher informs us that his life “journey” has continued, and he is now a true-blue Democrat. In a lengthy Facebook post, he used unnuanced clichés to attribute bad qualities to Republicans and good qualities to Democrats.

Will Durfee still find Fletcher cynical now that he’s a fellow Democrat? Who knows?

But we suspect even some die-hard Democrats will agree that the only thing to admire about Fletcher is the extremity of his gall. Here’s a proud, loud Democrat who would still be Republican if enough GOP officials had voted for him at a party meeting on March 10, 2012 – who would still welcome having Karl Rove, the Democrats’ Darth Vader, as his buddy if that vote had gone his way.

In Chicago, people like to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait around, it will change in 15 minutes.”

In San Diego, if you don’t like Nathan Fletcher’s positions, just wait. He’s very, very principled, you see – but in a very flexible fashion.